The Sprint King is Back: Florent Manaudou Drops a 20.77 50 Free at ISL Match 1

2019 INTERNATIONAL SWIMMING LEAGUE: GROUP A, MATCH 1

When France’s Florent Manaudou announced in March that he was ready to come back to the pool after a two-year hiatus in which he played handball for the Aix-en-Provence club, no one knew what to expect. But this 6′ 6”, 210-pound sprinter loves winning even more than he loves swimming, and it didn’t take long to assess his chances for a comeback. At his first competition since winning the silver medal in the 50m freestyle at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, he clocked the 8th-fastest 50m free (21.73) for the first seven months of the year at Setti Colli Trophy in Rome. That was the product of 10 weeks of training.

Fast-forward three months to Indianapolis, where Manaudou is competing with Energy Standard, and the 2012 Olympic Champion in the 50m free is even more impressive. On the first day of competition at the ISL’s inaugural quad match, he blasted a 20.77 to win the 50 SCM free by more than half a body length. His teammate Ben Proud touched second (21.39) for a 1-2 Energy Standard punch. Manaudou’s 20.77 is the top SCM performance in the world so far this year.

36 minutes after his 50 free victory, Manaudou went 23.77 in the 50 SCM backstroke to finish fourth. He had a quick start and seemed to lead at the turn but was beaten to the touch by his Energy Standard teammate Kliment Kolesnikov (23.29), Aqua Centurions’ Simone Sabbioni (23.52), and DC Trident’s Andreas Vazaios (23.69).

A half hour later Manaudou contributed to the winning 4×100 free relay with a split of 46.84 (22.19/24.65).

 

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Sqimgod
5 years ago

Thought this was LCM at first lol

Ol' Longhorn
5 years ago

Dressel better be prepared to put his drawstrings inside his suit.

Justin Thompson
Reply to  Ol' Longhorn
5 years ago

It’s good that you have a glimmer of hope that someone other than Chalmers could possibly beat him. Last summer was a rough one for Ol’ Longhorn on the Dressel hating.

Mr Piano
5 years ago

I just got a heart attack. Thought it was Long Course

FlyNDie
5 years ago

When was that picture taken? The man is built like a tank.

FSt
Reply to  FlyNDie
5 years ago

Sette Colli in June, probably.

Marmot
5 years ago

Great – and he’s not wearing a Speedo anymore, so he’s likely going to be a hair faster. Things are settling in nicely for Dressel, Manaudou, Chalmers, etc. to have competition to get pushed to new heights

Ol' Longhorn
Reply to  Marmot
5 years ago

Word on the street is he’s going full-on Mizuno in Tokyo. Hasta la vista, Baby.

Ragnar
5 years ago

Tokyo won’t know what hit them next summer, 50 and 100 free world records on the men’s side are a guarantee, the return of Lochte, Milak and Regans first trip to the big stage, the first Olympics without Phelps since 1996, Simone potentially(fingers crossed) sweeping the 50 and 100, will Campbell and sjorstorm finally peak at the right time, SwimSwam writers I hope you get some rest before it begins!!!

Sccoach
Reply to  Ragnar
5 years ago

I think we need an internet sleuth to fact check this Michael Phelps Olympic appearance in 1996

Dude
Reply to  Sccoach
5 years ago

They said since as in 1996 was the last Olympics without Phelps. That’s actually ridiculous to think about.

Sccoach
Reply to  Dude
5 years ago

Oops

Human Ambition
Reply to  Dude
5 years ago

To be correct Phelps wasn’t competing in Pyongyang either. (Insert smiley if your choice)

Ous Mellouli and Spiros Gianniotis were also swimming those five straight SOG’s winning medals but only Anthony Ervin won 2000 & 2016.

DutchWomen
5 years ago

His first 15m in London were textbook. Best first 15 I’ve ever seen.

Dude
Reply to  DutchWomen
5 years ago

Dressel??????

Dylan
Reply to  Dude
5 years ago

Flo was before Dressel so it can be hard to compare, but within a year that race is going to be leganrdary from start to finish..

About Anne Lepesant

Anne Lepesant

Anne Lepesant is the mother of four daughters, all of whom swam in college. With an undergraduate degree from Princeton (where she was an all-Ivy tennis player) and an MBA from INSEAD, she worked for many years in the financial industry, both in France and the U.S. Anne is currently …

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